Blaydon Bricks 39, Hougton Boars 0

Bricks book place in the 4th Team Shield Final with an emphatic win over the Boars, scoring 39 unanswered points.

Photos by Damien: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26086313%40N08/collections/

The official ‘factual’ match report (for which I can only apologise for any unwarranted insults, but I have promised not to sensor it) was produced by Davy Hall.

My summary of the game, Very wet pitch with a good size crowd including lots of past Bricks players supporting the Bricks, they witnessed one of the best performances I have ever witnessed from a Bricks side. This was a fantastic squad result, with starters and subs contributing, our forwards were canny (immense really) taking many against the head with a rampant driving scrum pushing Boars scrum back in the mud. The tackling was relentless, whenever a Boar got the ball he got knocked back by 2 to 3 Bricks. The backs made great breaks but with a very muddy ball last catches/passes went astray at times, on a dry day they could have had a few scores.

The Boars challenged all the way to the end, but with the Bricks dominance in the scrum, taking many of their balls, they had little ball on the day. We will see them again in this competition.

Try Scorers: Stracs, Harry 2, Keith, Brett, Chris Collins and a Penalty Try.
Conversions; Lowsey 2

Bruce

The official factual Match Report from Davy Hall:

Semi final day and a good turnout to see the Bricks cruise into the final in what turned out to be perfect conditions for our pack.
Blaydon started the game quickly stamping there authority in the forwards which was to be the theme for the afternoon.

An early break from man mountain Marge was quickly recycled and within 5 minutes we had the lead 5-0 following a try from Strachan.

The early exchanges suggested the backs would be quite evenly matched with the Houghton centre looking particularly lively but as it turned out the Bricks backs answered every question with some good strong tackling and making good yards when in possession.

Within 10 mins we had a second try as the dominant pack pushed Houghton over the line for Harry to touch down and make it 10-0 despite a knock on which the referee missed, no TMO at this level unfortunately.

The conditions were difficult and by the time 20 mins had elapsed it wasn’t easy to make out which side was which. In reality the teams were only distinguishable in so much as we were the fat ones covered in clarts and they were the slightly less fat ones covered in clarts.
Approaching half time and the bricks extended the lead to 15-0 after a superb rolling maul lead to the third try scored by a fat bloke covered in mud believed to be Keith Winter.

Just before the break Stu Reay was penalised and asked the referee “What was that for Sir, over the top or in at the side?” To which the ref replied, “You choose”. Nice to see a man know when he’s done wrong!
The half time break and a discussion with rugby legend Jerry as to what the tactics should be in the second half. Such was the dominance in the forwards that Jerry suggested we should knock every ball on, give them the scrum, then hump them off it, making at least 5 yards everytime. There’s a fine line between genius and……. Jerry.

The second half carried on where the first had left off with the forwards superb and the backs not seeing too much of the ball but doing there job when needed.

It was 20 mins into the second half until the next score as Brett crashed over from 5 yards after good strong forward play once again to make the score 20-0 and very soon after the lead was extended further.

A Blaydon scrum 5 yards out led to an inevitable score as the pack easily pushed Houghton back over the line for Blaydons number 8 and Man of the Match Harry to touch down for his second try of the game. The introduction of the superstar Davey Lowes saw the first converted kick to take the score to 27-0.

Unfortunately soon after the shine was taken off the performance when Windy was shown a yellow card after appearing to strike a Houghton player at a ruck. The referee who all agreed had an excellent game said it would have been a red but for the saving grace of the punch being and I quote, “like a girl”. Punching like a girl is not acceptable when you’re representing the Bricks Windy, buck your ideas up.

With 5 mins to go the fairies out the back finally got in on the act. An excellent break by Phil Divers gave Speedy Gonzales Chris Collins on the wing the simplest of opportunities to cross the line and increase the lead to 32-0.

There was just time before the final whistle for another score.

A Blaydon scrum 5 yards from the line looked certain to result in what would have been a well deserved hat-trick try for Harry, only for the ref to award the penalty try after a little bit of Sylvester Sneakly Snidely Whiplash cheating from Houghton. The try was converted and the whistle blown making the final score 39-0.

A cracking performance against a decent side who would have caused us problems if we hadn’t been on our game but this was as good a performance as I remember seeing from the Bricks in difficult conditions.

So everybody’s happy and another day out booked in for 5th April, win the final, sing a few songs about lobsters hanging from ladies intimate areas, then let’s hang the shield back on the wall.

The other semi final was postponed yesterday due to the weather but Winlaton or Sunderland in the final. I fancy whoever wins that game is going to have a rather difficult task taking our shield away if today’s efforts are anything to go by.

Would be nice to see Winlaton in the final and renew rivalries with some good lads but then again the thought of giving some mackems a lesson is quite appealing too.